MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

7/5 Extra bases

* Hopefully, Matt Garza found some Popeye’s chicken near Turner Field. That’s his favorite pre-game meal. He’ll take the mound Thursday night to close the Cubs series in Atlanta. He has held opponents to a .235 batting average. The Cubs have scored three or fewer runs while Garza has been in the game in 11 of his 15 starts, including four starts without a run scored.

* The Cubs will face Braves lefty Mike Minor . They’ll also face a lefty in two of the three games in New York against the Mets. The Cubs are 6-17 against left-handed starters this season and batting .220 against left-handed pitching, second lowest in the National League.

* Carlos Marmol is 6-for-6 in save opportunities in his last nine outings with a 1.04 ERA, giving up one earned run over 8 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out 15.

* Please note: Saturday’s game between the Cubs and Diamondbacks will start at 12:05 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field and be broadcast on WGN-TV.

* Ryan Dempster could start Sunday in the last game before the All-Star break. It will either be him or Chris Volstad. Here are the pitching matchups against the Mets:

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